An exclusive region of Sutton Coldfield which lends its own reputation
to the rest of the town, albeit falsely. Four Oaks borders the Sutton Park and
consistsmainly of private roads and large dwellings. In some cases four oaks
must have actually been, illegally, built on park land.

Lichfield Road at the beginning of Four Oaks heading towards Mere
Green. The building was formerly Stoneleigh Mansionwhich became the
Royal Court hotel then an apartment block.

Lichfield Road looking back towards town, the other
direction leads to Mere Green.The church, not to be outdone by the more
impressive Trinity Church, is called Holy Trinity Church!

Methodist Church Four Oaks

Methodist Church Four Oaks

Not far from Four Oaks is Reod Lege: first record
957AD; Radley-moor: first record 1783

This lost placename,
which probably means 'reed clearing', is found in the Charter of
(Little) Aston and (Great) Barr of 957 AD. That document set out the
boundaries of an early medieval estate which had been granted by an
Anglo-Saxon king, Eadred to his minister, Wulfhelm. A stretch of the
estate's eastern boundary is described as andlang Bradan Burnan in
thaene Broc aet Reod Lege: 'along the Broad Bourne to the Brook at
Radley'. The (Broad) Bourne is a stream east of Aldridge; the Brook at
Radley runs northwards to cross Blake Street where there was originally
a ford. Radley may have been a small settlement or a farm to the north
of the ford, possibly on the present site of Aston Wood Golf course.

William Hutton
mentions Radley Moor in his 1783 History of Birmingham when
describing the route of the Roman road through Sutton Park and beyond:

Ikenield-street,
proceeds through Sutton park, and the remainder of the Coldfield; over
Radley-moor; from thence to Wall, a Roman station.

The course of the
Roman road is now represented by a stretch of Forge Lane at the western
end of the golf course. Radley Moor, whose second element, moor
means bog or marsh, was probably an area of uncultivated land on the
site of the present golf course and beyond. There is a Moor Lane at
Footherley to the north. This region surrounds what is now the Aston
Woods Golf club.

The main stream dealerships rip motorists off big
style, this is my local garage, actually located by Ryland Road tip. They are
the "old" sort of garagemanned not by kids with degrees or years at a Polytechnic, but by mature
experienced men who know and care about their work